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"Just" Trails

21K views 332 replies 21 participants last post by  jaydee 
#1 ·
This journal focuses on trail riding and working with a trail trained horse. I am not yet blessed to have a 5,000 acre ranch space of my own to do with what I wish, nor to live a hundred miles away from the nearest shopping center with plenty of open riding country to use. I do however consider myself very lucky to be able to keep my horses at home, to have five horses, two of whom are above all else, suited for trails and, since I was able to retire early, to have a lot of time to spend doing what I enjoy.

I began riding at age 8 and am going to be 49 this year. Through the years, I’ve tried many things with horses; some have been dabbled in, some explored, and some, tried a few times and decided quickly it wasn’t for me. I dabbled in my youth in Western Pleasure showing, in more recent exploits, explored Western Dressage and tried arena jumping, general English riding, cutting, roping and barrel racing. What I always come back to is trails. Not because it is easy but, because there is no pinnacle, no point where you can claim a deliniated mastery, only continual learning. Every ride has the potential to become the challenge of your life.

There is always a bigger challenge to be had, something new to be done, a new obstacle that you have not seen before and ALWAYS something new to learn for BOTH horse and rider. Seek and ye shall find. Of all of the types of riding there is, trail riding requires a certain logically based, flexible, creative thinking that I never found in any of the other disciplines that I have tried.

Nature is a retreat, a place of ever changing order, beauty unpredictability and sometimes, danger. It is never the same place twice when it is left to its own way.

Warning, Mini Rant following: I often see the terms "just a trail rider" or "recreational rider" or even a reference to recreationally used horses as "pets" thrown around in nearly a disparaging way. As if to say, that because one is not paid to ride (the dividing line between recreational and professional), it requires no special skills, conditioning, discipline or knowledge from the horse or rider. It implies, either intentionally or unintentionally, that because there is no ribbon or paycheck at the end of a ride, there can be no knowledge, experience or approach worth consideration coming from them.

After all, if you are good at it, why not make $ doing it, right?. Some people would just rather ride their own horses than spend their time fixing other people's. The money isn't worth the cost in time and dealing with sometimes difficult people. It really can be that simple.

Like in all disciplines, in trail riding there are those who take the time to train the details and those who do not. Craigs list is filled with ill mannered horses that are rarely ridden beyond the occasional hack out every month or so, or are too old for winning competitions, are injured or disabled and automatically labeled as "trail horses". If you have ever test ridden some of them with the aim of seriously riding trails, it quickly becomes apparent which horses have the training, physical ability and/or demeanor to really be serious trail horses and which are just not naturally cut out for it.

However, just as a Western Pleasure rider might find it insulting to be lumped in with "peanut rollers", a saddle seat or dressage competitor might find it insulting to be lumped together with abusive training practices, people who peruse trail riding seriously (though recreationally) and who are constantly looking to improve their skills and that of their horses, also have the right to feel the same indignation when it is assumed their horses are spoiled "pets" and they are "just"____fill in the blank. (Mini rant done).

One of the Authors who most changed me in life was a man by the name of Ralph Waldo Emmerson. He was a leader in the transcendentalist movement of the early half of the 17th century (1820-50). I wouldn’t say I am a transcendentalist but, the older I get, the more their style of wisdom is appealing. For instance:

“Every minute you remain angry, you give up 60 seconds of peace of mind”

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.”

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

“We are by nature observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state.”

Transcendentalists emphasize individualism, seeking your own true nature, not giving into the pressures of society (when given the chance, choose the road less traveled), the goodness of humans in their natural state, the values of self-reliance amongst other things.

I do part with Emerson on several issues but, without him, I never would have found Henry David Thoreau who, opened me up to the value of living simply in natural surroundings and learning from observing the natural world.

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”

“Nature and human life are as various as our several constitutions. Who shall say what prospect life offers to another?”

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”

“Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.”

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”

“The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.”

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?”

“It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.”

Great thanks to my Freshman High School English teacher who introduced me to the philosophies and musings of both of these gentlemen. They have come in handy throughout life. They taught me to stop and smell the roses instead of always worrying about the thorns.

If you don’t like the above quotes or attitudes, you can probably stop following this journal now, as it will probably waste your time.

This is who I am. It is how I approached raising five children, dealing with ups and downs in my life. Now, with three of the five on their own, I have a little peace and quiet, finally, getting to do what I want, when I want, for the first time since I was a child; namely, ride and make the horses I come into contact with, however briefly, better for having known me.
 
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#11 · (Edited)
Don't let us old stogies get you down. One thing I have learned from raising and teaching children is they have a way of reminding you how to see the world through a fresh lens...we all need to clean off our spectacles once in a while!



When you stop staring in wonder at the world around you, when everything is ho-hum, been there done that, IMO, its time to find a new envelope to push.

By the way, didn't mean to insult you by relating you to a child. My oldest is 28 so, anyone younger than that ends up being called a "child"!
 
#4 ·
Review of Camping Outing at Pace Bend Park, Spicewood Texas.
February 24 -25



This past weekend, before it got buggy and hot, we decided to camp out. For years, when the oldest children were young we did a lot of back country camping. The kind where you got to trek in on foot and carry all your worldly necessities on your back. Then we got the bright idea to get an RV for the sake of convenience and expediency. It has been over a decade since we have done any “real” camping. So long in fact, that my youngest, #5 at 13 years old has never been camping in the old-fashioned sense of the word, much less with horses. That finally changed this weekend!

Pace Bend is a State run Park of approximately 1368 acres. Being only 45 minutes West of Austin, it attracts large crowds especially in the summer months with boaters and cliff divers/jumpers. This time of year, mostly trail runners, hikers and mountain bikers are to be found.

The entire time we were there, we only saw one other horse trailer. There were however many people in the park. There was a 5k run, a cycling race and a Boy Scout Jamboree.

The park has approximately 400 "primitive" sites where equestrian camps are allowed. Primitive, meaning you have a picnic table, a fire ring, pit toilets and other than the lake, only one other spot to draw water from. If you want to get to a site that is not bordering one of the smaller roads, you have the choice to either hike in a short distance or off road it. We chose to off road it and haul the trailer up.

There was good tree cover where we chose to camp (Mud Cove) and it was far enough from the lake that the gnats and flies were not too bad yet.

Mistake #1: The horses were kept on a picket line, which, I realized too late, I forgot my step stool so the first picket line was pathetically low and saggy. Waited for Dear Husband to come to the camp after work and tighten it up that night, then move it to a higher tree the next morning.

The horses spent the night tied short to picket keepers and longer, where the rope could slide back and fourth in the hour between rides or when we were at camp and keeping a close eye on them. Tied on a longer lead, they only tangled with a foot over once or twice in the daytime. Since we were there, usually eating our own meal and rehydrating, we were there to fix the situation, before they got themselves into a bind.

This is the first time that these horses have been tied to a picket line and the first time they have been tied overnight. They have however been taught to tie and stand for long periods of time, wear hobbles and ground tie previously. The picketing was my biggest worry but, they did just fine.

Mistake #2: Not having camped in so long we have since given away a lot of our previous equipment, including our cold weather sleeping bags. Being cheap, I decided to not buy new stuff and just bring piles and piles of blankets along. It ended up costing us a night of peaceful sleep and was integral in the decision not to stay the second night to try to squish a bit more riding in this morning. I knew better but, talked myself into believing we hadn't become that wimpy to the cold (40 degrees F) Lesson learned, don't skimp on the important stuff!

On the first day my daughter and I got the camp set up and explored the park, getting the horses used to the sights sounds and smells. They have not been ridden off property since the fall and were a bit antsier than normal. Some of the things they took a few hours to adjust to; the tents, the vehicle traffic, some of it loud, children running about screaming, joggers with strollers, Frisbees, kites, and very odd looking speed bumps, similar to these.


No spooks or major problems, only a heightened state of alertness until they settled in.

We took two rides that day.

On the first ride first we went north to the tip of the park where we thought they had closed off an area to riding and then south, to a point that was blocked off due to a prescribed burn. We stuck mostly to the roads on the first ride, as we found that the horses were quite calm on the trails and much more nervous in the area with all of the people doing their thing.

The second ride we went into the interior (inside the Grisham Trail road loop) where it is much more rocky and is a mountain biking haven. This is part of the "straddle your saddle" trail



Late Friday night is when all of the people began flooding in. By morning, the camp looked very different than the day before, so our first ride of the day was again to the north point and then the south, that we had done the previous day. This time they had a few more things to deal with.

A pontoon boat was parked up on the beach and we passed within ten feet of it. There were about five personal water craft in bright colors bobbing on the waves as well. Then we went through the Boyscout jamboree, which was camped on both sides of the road. Fishing poles, fishing nets being cast, soccer balls, flags flying, people running every which direction added to the scene.

My daughter made a big leap of confidence in herself and her horse when Caspian baulked and wouldn't go through the middle of the mayhem and she pushed him through anyway. It was a good ride.

Our second ride that day: A friend of mine lives only a few minutes from the park and was willing to haul two of her horses out as well as another friend of hers from Germany to ride with us that afternoon. My friend couldn't ride because she broke her ankle last week breaking up a dog fight, so it was only three of us who headed out.

Turns out the area that I thought was a "no go" was actually just closed off to vehicle traffic. It was some of the easiest and most scenic riding we did all weekend; flat and rock free with beautiful scenery all along the shores of the coves. Very nice to do some flat out runs for long stretches. It looked to be an area of the park that was once used for camping but, was abandoned now. It had a kind of ghostly look to it. The horses didn't seem to mind and we were all having a good time of it.

Back to camp. Water the horses, grab a snack and go out for a third ride, this time back to the trails on the interior. Much, much more rocky and with some mild slope, sometimes stairs of limestone sheet rock only.

Here is where I am going to warn anyone thinking of riding this park. The friend's horse we were riding with is so-so on rock when barefoot. She was shod, but she began showing some signs of being "ouchy" on the rocks about an hour in. A set of boots for her in retrospect, might have been a good idea.

In spots, it looked like someone had dumped a load of rip-rap out and called it a trail, other parts were nice and smooth for running but, you had to go through the rocky trails to get to the smoother ones. Ours did fine on the rock barefoot but, thanks to mother nature (vs. anything we have really done) ours both have extra ordinarily tough feet.

Now personal picture time....

Picnic Recreation Tree Camping Tent


Horse Trail riding Outdoor recreation Recreation Endurance riding


Tent Camping Plant community Recreation Grass


Tree Nature reserve Pasture Horse Woody plant


Tree Organism Wildlife


Natural landscape Tree Nature reserve Bird Wildlife


Horse Trail riding Bridle Recreation Riding instructor


Sky Body of water Nature Reflection Horizon
 
#6 ·
So much to love here! I can't wait to follow your journal.

First, so glad the camping trip happened and was exciting, even if you had some unexpected moments. Your daughter is lucky to have you :)

Second, I am definitely guilty of contributing to this "just trail riding" stereotype because I tend to introduce myself and my horse that way. I'm not nearly as good a rider as most of the other people at my barn, and my horse is a senior citizen. I sort of downplay what we do and what we've accomplished together in the past few years, until I realize that people are actually pretty surprised that I go out and about alone on my tiny little mare. I need to give her (us) a little more credit.

Finally, if you ever find yourself up in New England, I'd love to take you to Walden Pond. It can get crowded during the tourist season, but it's beautiful to visit.
 
#9 ·
So much to love here! I can't wait to follow your journal.

First, so glad the camping trip happened and was exciting, even if you had some unexpected moments. Your daughter is lucky to have you :)

Second, I am definitely guilty of contributing to this "just trail riding" stereotype because I tend to introduce myself and my horse that way. I'm not nearly as good a rider as most of the other people at my barn, and my horse is a senior citizen. I sort of downplay what we do and what we've accomplished together in the past few years, until I realize that people are actually pretty surprised that I go out and about alone on my tiny little mare. I need to give her (us) a little more credit.

Finally, if you ever find yourself up in New England, I'd love to take you to Walden Pond. It can get crowded during the tourist season, but it's beautiful to visit.
Sadly, so am I. Somewhere along the way I fell into the trap of thinking it is "Just" a trail ride and then I look at how many good riders on good horses have difficulties and ending up injured. It really made me take a step back and look at what we, as a team, were really accomplishing each and every ride.

I don't tend to get up your way all that often but, I'd love to see Walden Pond and spend some time there trying to see what Thoreau saw there.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Funny or odd things that happened on this trip/things we need to work on:

I mentioned there was a 5k run happening. We could see the road where the runners went past. At first there were two runners, then five, then a dozen. The first small group went past and it caught the horses’ attention. The second group passed and the horses were on alert. When the third group passed they became visibly nervous. You could almost see them bracing for whatever dangerous thing all of those people were running away from!

In the opposite reaction at one point, about fifty scouts walked by on the camp road to an open field to do some, what looked to be practicing a grid search for search and rescue. At the time DH and #5 had both horses out hand walking near the road. DH had Oliver and called me to come get him because Oliver was making him nervous trying to follow the troop to wherever they were going. I made Oliver stand and watch them. Only once he was calmed, did we then follow them for a distance before returning to camp. He was very interested in watching them from camp the entire time.

Tree Plant Branch Woody plant Spring


Oliver has gotten very bad about dealing with his excitement to hit the trails. He has slid backwards in his manners both while being saddled and while being mounted during his time off from trailering out. He is still fine when at home but, this weekend, he was horrible! It was like he just couldn’t contain his excitement. He wanted to go-go-go…NOW! This will be something I will be penciling time to work on during our next trip.

He has done this before (when I put medicine/supplements in his feed), so it does not seem accidental. I don’t know if this was his idea of letting me know his thoughts on being picketed all night or maybe his way of relieving boredom? I went to feed him his pellets in the morning and found this…..

Grass Plant Dish




Not one drop wasted, a perfect bulls eye!

Another funny moment happened when some of the children at a family gathering were using the hammocks as a swing. The horses ignored them until they started yelling "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" at which time both of their heads shot up and they stood staring as if to say "I am not moving!".
 
#8 ·
What a great journal. Thanks for sharing your adventure and I'm looking forward to reading about more.

Out of all the things you can do with horses, trail riding is what I love the best. You can do it alone, just you and your horse, or you can have company. Either way, for me, it's the most enjoyable thing. There are a lot of disciplines that you can use on the trail too. I just get so bored so quickly with the arena.
 
#17 ·
Well, I will have to subscribe to this for certain! And being a talkative one, I'll add to that.

First, In reading the Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes, I was waiting for the quote that I used as a signature in the past. Wasn't there! As a moderator, perhaps you'll want to go back and add it?


Face Head Black-and-white Monochrome Forehead
“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he/she will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.”

Trails have been my passion since leaving the farm to live and work in suburbia some 45 years ago. Trails have been my way of temporarily returning to the natural surroundings in which I spent my youth.

My life has been consumed by trails. And now horses and trails. Surrounded by the 28,000 acre ranch I landed on with trails going everywhere, I've reached my nirvana. My Walden.

If I run out of trails on the ranch, the ranch is surrounded to the North, West, and South by more State Trust and BLM lands. To the East is Prescott National Forest with tons and tons of trails including Wilderness areas.

I spend almost as much time finding and working on the rehabilitation of lost trails as I do riding.

In this day and age, anyone that is able to have their own horse and able to ride at all can paint themselves as a very fortunate person, something that I was never able to do until the ripe old age of 72.
 
#20 ·
Well, I will have to subscribe to this for certain! And being a talkative one, I'll add to that.

First, In reading the Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes, I was waiting for the quote that I used as a signature in the past. Wasn't there! As a moderator, perhaps you'll want to go back and add it?


View attachment 870865 “Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he/she will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.”

Trails have been my passion since leaving the farm to live and work in suburbia some 45 years ago. Trails have been my way of temporarily returning to the natural surroundings in which I spent my youth.

My life has been consumed by trails. And now horses and trails. Surrounded by the 28,000 acre ranch I landed on with trails going everywhere, I've reached my nirvana. My Walden.

If I run out of trails on the ranch, the ranch is surrounded to the North, West, and South by more State Trust and BLM lands. To the East is Prescott National Forest with tons and tons of trails including Wilderness areas.

I spend almost as much time finding and working on the rehabilitation of lost trails as I do riding.

In this day and age, anyone that is able to have their own horse and able to ride at all can paint themselves as a very fortunate person, something that I was never able to do until the ripe old age of 72.
Hondo, you are living my dream. My in-laws once asked us if we inherited a ton of money what we would do with it. My husband and I both responded that we would buy as much land as was prudent, he would plant 300 acres of pecans and I would start a trail business, rescue horses to re-train them for a job, then find them good trail riding homes when possible.

I think I will leave that Emmerson quote for you Hondo! The others had less to do with horses and more to do with the way you conduct yourself in life. Which, I suppose, if you are a horseperson, would also apply to horses.
 
#19 ·
re: dogs. Yesterday I actually turned around early while road riding because I could see a man off in the distance with several big off-leash dogs. After I read this thread, I wondered if I should have kept going to see what Izzy would do. We actually haven't encountered that before and I think she'd probably snort and side-eye a bit but stay steady if asked. I worry more about the dogs being out of control than her, and that's why I turned back.

Last winter, I had the pleasure of going hacking in Wimbeldon Park in London. There were lots of dogs in the park, which also had a leash law- but seemed that most people were walking them off-leash and had no recall to get them hooked back up quickly. My "guide" also had us ride away from the dogs rather than through them, as she was riding a little mare who had been attacked by 3 loose dogs in the park some months before (with dog owners nearby, leashes uselessly in hand). The poor mare had her back legs all ripped up even as she was trying to defend herself. She had healed sound and was still good for riding, but she got understandably anxious around loose dogs, so best to not put her in that situation when there was another option.
 
#21 ·
There are a lot of people in Texas that do not control their dogs. I once had a postman come up the drive to deliver a package while my dogs were out loose. He got out of the car and I was holding one by the collar in each hand. He said to me "You aren't originally from here are you?".

Since I hadn't said a word, I wondered how he knew. He told me "You try to control your dogs."

Oliver and Caspian have been around dogs so much that they know which ones really mean business and which are just blowing smoke. I have seen them both charge the feral pack and run them off. It is a thing of beauty!

Most of the dogs that we met, the owner's apologized profusely (they could get slapped with a huge fine) and stated that their dogs had never seen horses before. It isn't just the socialization of the horses that is important but, dogs as well.

Riding around strange loose dogs is always a risk. I would make the suggestion, that if you don't already know how to read a dog's body language, that you find a way to learn that way you also know which ones to steer well clear of. Dogs can smell fear.....
 
#25 · (Edited)
We don't have a strong 4H presence in our area. Can you explain what the Wagon Train is? Is there a tradition or history attached to the event? Do you ride a specific trail each year? Do you have actual old wagons riding with you? It sounds like a lot of fun! How does one become a Scout for the ride? What responsibilities does it entail?
 
#27 · (Edited)
Ooooh! It sounds interesting. I looked up Barlow and that is quite a ways away.

This is one of the tough things about having your horses at home, whenever we leave for more than a day or two, someone has to mind the horses and dogs. The husband can do it to an extent but, he works full time + hours so it gets very exhausting for him quickly. My 17 year old son can do the dogs and look in on the horses, just to let us know if there is a problem, he doesn't really know the first thing about them and has no interest in learning. We tend not to take long vacations any more, only short jaunts nearby.

My friend that owns the other horse that rode with us this weekend used to be a neighbor, now she is an hour and a half away. The neighbor girl used to do it for us (non-horsey parents), but she is away at college now. The third neighbor I would trust to do it, her husband has Alzheimer's and is not doing well. I lost all of my helpers!

I wish it was closer....We do have a couple of other members who live out that way though, maybe they would like to help?
 
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#30 · (Edited)
@walkinthewalk, Dodger was a cryptoid so he grew a bit larger than usual, he stands about to my mid hip so 32-34 inches? He also has hypothyroidism and is on medication. When we got him you could see his spine and pelvis. He scares the snot out of most people but, he's a big mush. When he gets into the garbage cans because my son failed to put the lid on (one of the effects of the medication is that he is ravenous), the resultant farts are the scariest thing about him!

Buddy is a Great Dane, English bulldog mix. He is front end loaded! Most think he is a huge pitbull.

As for the traffic issue, we sometimes ride over the "mountain" and into town. Its a bump in the road kind of town not even big enough for a stoplight. Speed limit is still 45, most do 50.

We live on the north side of the lake and there is only one road west for 30 miles until you can cross to the south side of the lake so all of the tourist and local traffic goes there. Oliver does really well so far in traffic. Lots of people hauling boats, big semi's, biker gangs loud pipes and all...I just don't trust the drivers around here enough to do it much more than to just say "Okay. We're good there".

That one gal that was journaling here for a while who's horse was hit and killed by a drunk driver and she lost part of her leg sticks in my mind.....
 
#31 ·
Warning, Mini Rant following: I often see the terms "just a trail rider" or "recreational rider" or even a reference to recreationally used horses as "pets" thrown around in nearly a disparaging way. As if to say, that because one is not paid to ride (the dividing line between recreational and professional), it requires no special skills, conditioning, discipline or knowledge from the horse or rider. It implies, either intentionally or unintentionally, that because there is no ribbon or paycheck at the end of a ride, there can be no knowledge, experience or approach worth consideration coming from them.


Like in all disciplines, in trail riding there are those who take the time to train the details and those who do not. Craigs list is filled with ill mannered horses that are rarely ridden beyond the occasional hack out every month or so, or are too old for winning competitions, are injured or disabled and automatically labeled as "trail horses". If you have ever test ridden some of them with the aim of seriously riding trails, it quickly becomes apparent which horses have the training, physical ability and/or demeanor to really be serious trail horses and which are just not naturally cut out for it.
These two statements I couldn't agree more with! Love it! I mostly am "JUST" a trail rider, and honestly training my horse for all scenarios I can think of has been very rewarding. Maybe one day we'll dabble and start conditioning for endurance to add a level of competition, but as far as trail, it has been VERY rewarding. My horse with the right training probably could've gone into other things, (he was shown in AHA shows when younger, but I never really delved too much into his past) but for now, I think we both honestly truly enjoy being out on the trails, exploring different things.

A side note, I truly think some horses at their core, enjoy being out on the trail more than any other activity we ask of them, like it fulfills that same need that dogs have for walks that they just don't get during turn out or in a dog's case, being let to run in a fenced in yard. Not at all putting down showing, just a personal observation about how a horse seems during/after a good trail ride.

Looking forward to following your journey!
 
#39 ·
A side note, I truly think some horses at their core, enjoy being out on the trail more than any other activity we ask of them, like it fulfills that same need that dogs have for walks that they just don't get during turn out or in a dog's case, being let to run in a fenced in yard. Not at all putting down showing, just a personal observation about how a horse seems during/after a good trail ride.

Looking forward to following your journey!
Years ago I bought a gorgeous inky blue-black Morab mare that was for sale only because she had become burned out in show ring. The day I bought her, I took her straight down to the Shenango Foot Trails that ran alongside the river. That blessed mare was sure she had found her Nirvana. She was a happy-at-peace horse that never made a mis-step.

On the other side of that coin, during the same horse search, I had looked at a registered Morgan show mare that was scared to absolute death of the rustling corn stalks, I rode her past, on her own farm. She had never seen anything but a ring and could not adjust to the real world. I passed on her and was soon led to the Morab mare, above:)
 
#32 · (Edited)
I very much agree. A lot of people in the last three years have said “He would be good at X. Try it.”

What I found is he is only as good at something as much as he enjoys it. He'll do it but that spark is gone. Oliver (and Caspian) can do many things and do it quite nicely but, there is a certain shine he develops when he is doing what he loves.

As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t realized how much he truly missed our (previously) weekly rides away from home until last weekend.

He could barely contain himself and I felt like a neglectful owner for not having realized how important it was to him. Doesn’t mean he is allowed to act the fool but, I can understand where it is coming from.

I mean look at that body language. This was after five hours of pretty hard T-C riding that day. All I did was gather up my helmet and stand up with my camera. He was ready to go again.

Horse Mammal Vertebrate Stallion Mare
 
#34 ·
There's supposed to be a different personality structure, maybe even brain structure, that causes certain people to prefer a game of ping pong over a game of tennis.

I wonder if there is something similar going on with people who prefer arena work over trails. There are other sports, motorcycles being one, where there is a clear distinction between people preferring cross country to what they call round dee round track sports, which bores them quickly.

I'd be betting that if a study was done, there would be differing personality traits in certain areas.

Or is this a no brainer I'm speaking of?
 
#35 · (Edited)
This might help answer some of your questions Hondo.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199411/risk

"Some scientists, like UC-Davis's Maddi and Wisconsin's Farley, concentrate on risk taking primarily as a cognitive or behavioral phenomenon. Maddi sees risk taking as an element of a larger personality dimension he calls "hardiness," which measures individuals' sense of control over their environment and their willingness to seek out challenges"

Speaking for myself personally, I like things that constantly challenge me mentally as well as physically. I like to perceptually "multi-task". I put that in quotes because science says our brains don't really do multiple things simultaneously, just very quickly.

Riding in an arena is a singular focus of riding the horse; you generally are not concerned that a spectator is going to randomly throw something at you at unknown periods during your ride, or that the landing spot on the other side of the jump might be full of sharp sticks. You get to go about your business in a somewhat controlled environment.

I have ADD. It was always easier for me to pay attention to 5 different things nominally, rather than one entirely.

We used to sit by alphabetical order in school and I got to sit in front of a mumbler. He mumbled all the time to himself during tests and it nearly drove me insane!

Trail riding is looking ahead, assessing what is coming up next, the risks involved and making a bunch of decisions. How you are going to navigate it, is it safe? What are the potential risks. At the same time, you are controlling your horse where you are at right then and there. There is a balance there. Most riding sports have that in some respect because you are after all riding an animal with his own ideas about what is going on. The added feature to trails is the high risk of the unknown, outside of the rider-horse bubble of influence. You can't be so focused on what is next that you are unaware of deer about to jump out of the brush.

It was why I liked to play Ice Hockey over soccer. Nothing like moving up to 20 miles per hour in a 100x200 space, with ten other people, half of whom are trying to knock you silly. Lots going on there.
 
#37 ·
A very riveting article. Only short pauses start to finish.

So risk takers get bored easily. That corresponds to a risk taker preferring ping pong/table tennis as there is to time to get bored as in tennis. Used to drive me crazy waiting for the opponent to stop bouncing the ball and SERVE!#$%!

So the divide between trail and arena riders sounds like risk takers that choose the unknown vs the other. Neither good, bad, better, or worse. Just different.

Article gave me a fresh perspective on my failed marriage that I had not considered before also.

And gee, "JUST" trailriders may be an evolutionarily obsolete subspecies. :eek_color:(that's a teaser to goad others to read the article :)
 
#38 ·
-or another way to look at it is that risk takers have less fear of the unknown because they feel more in control of their environment. Some might call that self-confidence....or perhaps an acceptance of their own human finiteness.
 
#41 ·
I'll add another part of that article which might also apply to horses, since they also have MAO:

Researchers have long known of physiological differences between high- and low-sensation seekers. According to Zuckerman, the cortical system of a high can handle higher levels of stimulation without overloading and switching to the fight-or-flight response. Psychologist Randy Larsen, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan, has even shown that high-sensation seekers not only tolerate high stimulus but crave it as well.

Larsen calls high-sensation seekers "reducers": Their brains automatically dampen the level of incoming stimuli, leaving them with a kind of excitement deficit. (Low-sensation seekers, by contrast, tend to "augment" stimuli, and thus desire less excitement.) Why are some brains wired for excitement? Since 1974, researchers have known that the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) plays a central role in regulating arousal, inhibition, and pleasure. They also found that low levels of MAO correlate with high levels of certain behaviors, including criminality, social activity, and drug abuse. When Zuckerman began testing HSS individuals, they, too, showed unusually low MAO levels.

The enzyme's precise role isn't deal It regulates levels of at least three important neurotransmitters: norepinephrine, which arouses the brain in response to stimuli; dopamine, which is involved with the sensation of pleasure in response to arousal; and serotonin, which acts as a brake on norepinephrine and inhibits arousal. It's possible that high-sensation seekers have lower base levels of norepinephrine and thus, can tolerate more stimulation before triggering serotonin's dampening effect. High-sensation seekers may also have lower levels of dopamine and are thus in a chronic state of underarousal in the brain's pleasure centers.

Such individuals may turn to drugs, like cocaine, which mimic dopamine's pleasure reaction. But they may also use intense and novel stimulation, triggering norepinephrine's arousal reaction and getting rewarded by the dopamine pleasure reaction. "What you get is a combination of tremendous arousal with tremendous pleasure," Zuckerman speculates. "And the faster that arousal reaches its peak, the more intense your pleasure." Just as important, individuals may develop a tolerance for the pleasure reaction, and thus may need ever higher levels of stimulation--of risk--to achieve the same rush.
 
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#42 ·
Have horses been studied on the basis of some behavioral feature compared to risk taking and MOA levels?

Mammals being mammals, makes sense that they would.

It was also interesting to think that a species might evolve having risk takers and non-risk takers in order for the risk takers to discover what was safe and what was not safe so the surviving non-risk takers could continue the race.

Makes sense that they would both play a role in survival.
 
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